Byron York: Political effects of non-politics

4:50 PM,
Apr. 9, 2013

Written by

Byron York

Passing major legislation is not a path to the presidency. So why is Sen. Marco Rubio, who is almost surely running for the 2016 Republican nomination, working so hard on comprehensive immigration reform?

Look at the only lawmaker who has become president in the last half-century. Barack Obama did almost nothing in his brief time in the Senate. His career in the world's greatest deliberative body consisted mainly of showing up, becoming immediately dissatisfied and looking for something better.

Obama never took a leading role crafting any piece of momentous legislation. And some of the ...